


Class of 77 and 78's Peculiar Killing Game

by Neptune98



Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Bad Dialogue because I'm bad at writing, Because he is a main character here, Different Mastermind, F/F, F/M, Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), If this gets popular enough, Ishida is like Jack in this, Ishida ships Taka and Mondo, Ishimaru isn't as loud and oblivious in DR1, M/M, Or if I feel motivated to do it, Probably a sequel with the remaining cast of 1 and 2, Sorry if it's too ooc for you, Talentswap, he has to be trialsmart though ;_;, most of the ships aren't very serious, they're in a killing game after all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-07 22:45:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12851121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neptune98/pseuds/Neptune98
Summary: Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the Ultimate Lucky Student, has just entered Hope's Peak Academy, a place where only the best of the best attend. But once he enters, a mysterious bear, monokuma, tells him and his 15 other classmates that they're stuck inside the school and forced to participate in a killing game! Who will survive, who will die, and who is the mastermind? Stay tuned to find out!





	1. Prologue: Welcome to Hope's Peak!

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first attempt at writing fanfiction, and is probably way too big of a project for me. I've been working on it for the past 2 weeks, and have gotten past the prologue and chapter 1. I hope this story goes well and makes it to the end, even if I don't get great reception. As much as I wanted to make this interactive, I think I'll just create one huge free time chapter for each character and post those after the events of the story, much like a 'school mode' or something similar. I hope I don't make everyone too ooc, as I've been having an issue with that, but I still hope you appreciate this! Please leave some feedback if you feel like there's anything I could improve on, but try not to make it spiteful or just plain hate. Thanks!

Today was the day. Finally, I was able to stare down the school I’d be soon attending, Hope’s Peak Academy. Looking at it now, I couldn’t be any more intimidated. After all, I was just a regular student, with no real talent to bring me here. Hope’s Peak Academy was a school that accepted only the best of the best, the cream of the crop in each field, and yet I stand in front of this school, ready to start my new school life. My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru, and I’m the Ultimate Lucky Student. The sole reason I get to stand at the gates of Hope’s Peak today is because I won a lottery, simple as that. It’s hard to believe; I still keep pinching myself to wake up if this is just a dream. This opportunity couldn’t have come at a better time, to be honest. Maybe I truly am worthy of the title of the Ultimate Lucky Student. I still won’t forget the day I was notified of my acceptance into the academy.

\--

“Kiyotaka! A letter came in the mail today for you. I didn’t have time to read the contents or the sender, so you’ll just need to look at it once you get home. I’ve been called out to work, so I won’t be home until late tonight. I left last night’s leftovers in the fridge for you tonight. I love you, son.”

The message ended. I sighed, and went towards the table to pick up the mail. Interactions between Father and me were like this nowadays; receiving a message on the phone once I got home, learning that once again, I’d be alone tonight. My father, Takaaki Ishimaru, is a police officer, and the best father in the world. He was strict to me, rather often, but that made sense considering our situation. After my grandfather, Toranosuke Ishimaru, left my family in debt in a work scandal, our hope died. Add this unfixable debt to the fact that my mother passed away recently due to illness we couldn’t fix, his emotion has been reduced to a shell of what it used to be. Father truly does mean the best for me, but we’ve been dealt such a bad hand in life that I completely understand why he’s constantly mad, aggravated, and violent when he gets home. Having to risk your life day by day to protect everyone, only to come home to a house that leaves a bad taste in your mouth can’t be easy to tolerate, right?

“Ah! I got so lost in thought that I forgot to look at this letter father mentioned!” I talked to myself, as that was the only way to give myself company. I approached the letter, noticing the insignia of some institution I recognized, but forgot off the top of my head. I carefully opened the seal of the letter, shaming myself when I made a small tear halfway through, and took out the contents of the letter.  

_        Dear Kiyotaka Ishimaru, _

_        We are very happy to enclose to you that you have won our yearly admission lottery, and have been admitted into Hope’s Peak Academy. We understand that this will come as a shock to you, seeing as you don’t have a registered talent, so you probably had no idea you’d get this letter at all! To fix that, from now on, you will get the title of the Ultimate Lucky Student. The staff here at Hope’s Peak Academy believes that the lottery couldn’t have picked a better student this year, and we really hope you look forward to taking this opportunity to better the lives of not only yourself, but the rest of your family. If you are to come to Hope’s Peak, please bring your suitcase and supplies on August 24th of this month, We can’t wait to see you! _

_ Headmaster Jin Kirigiri _

“...” I stood still, looking at the letter with my jaw dropped. This wasn’t some sort of prank, was it? Was this letter real? Am I really able to go to Hope’s Peak? I haven’t heard much, but I know that those who go there are guaranteed a successful life, and -

It took me a moment to realize that I wetted the bottom of the letter with some stray tears. As I quickly came back to reality, I couldn’t stop more tears from dropping, and even more, and  _ even more,  _ and then I was crying; crying because I had the opportunity to change the misfortune that  _ genius  _ Toranosuke brought to my family. Soon I was sobbing, quite messily, and quickly shielded the letter away from my tears so I could still have a letter to show my father. However, as I was turning around to keep this letter safe, I was shocked to see my Father standing behind me, a confused look on his face. 

“Kiyotaka, are you alright? Did bullies at school hurt you again? I’ve told you time and again to defend yourself the next ti-”

“Father!? What are you doing here?”

“Ah, well I was able to go home early today, so I thought I would surprise you with some early dinner.”

“That’s… that’s great! Father, I got great news today! I read the letter I got!”

“You did? And what did it say?”

“I’M GOING TO HOPE’S PEAK!!!!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, and quickly regained my composure, extremely embarrassed.

“What did you say? Hope’s Peak? This isn’t a joke?”

“It isn’t a joke! I was thinking the same at first, but this insignia, and the signature of the headmaster, I’m really going!”

\--

The gates in front of me slowly opened, and I walked into the courtyard of Hope’s Peak. The steps I took got slower and slower, until I reached the front door. It had to have taken me at least 3 minutes to make the 400 ft. walk to the door from the gates, and at least a dozen of other attendees walk past me with confused looks on their faces. Nevertheless, I went inside, and followed a guide to the floor for class 78. I couldn’t have been more excited at the time, and if I knew what I was getting myself into, I couldn’t have been more scared. This was just the start of the rest of my life...

\--

**_Prologue: Introduction to Despair_ **

After searching the floor to find my respective homeroom, I stood nervously at the door. Why was I nervous? I should be excited, not anxious, to start the rest of my school life. I took a second to compose myself, and scouted out the rest of the hallway. Oh good, no one else was looking at me embarrass myself, I thought. I reached out my hand to turn the doorknob slowly, but as soon as my hand connected with the doorknob, my world turned to black. Somehow, I had lost consciousness.

\--

When I woke up, all I could see was the inside of a classroom. Was this the class I tried to enter earlier before I blacked out? Why was I in class now? Did someone else bring me here? But no one else is in here, so how could that possib-

**Ding Dong!**

My thoughts were interrupted by the harsh sound of an intercom. After a few seconds of what I presumed to be the school’s bell ringing, I heard an… unusual voice.

“Good morning students! I bet you’re all wondering how and why you got in your classrooms, but I won’t tell you! Not until you bastards get inside of the gym! Upupupupu, I’ll see you then!”

Once I heard that voice, almost comically cartoonish, panic started rising within me. “What the he- what in the world is going on here?” I stopped myself from swearing. I didn’t want to set a bad example for myself after all. It didn’t seem like I had any other options, so after staying in my seat for around 3 or 4 minutes, I began to walk out of the classroom, down the hallway, and towards the gym. 

\--

As I walked down the hallways, thinking how large this school must have been, I was greeted by a voice behind me.

“Hey, excuse me! Are you also a student for the 78th class?” The voice was perfectly normal, almost serene, as I turned around to see who it was that called to me.

“Yes, I am. I take it you’re a part of the class as well?” I responded in as neutral of a tone as I possibly could. I was never great with social interaction, so talking to strangers and acquaintances was never a strong suit of mine.

“Ah, that’s great. I was beginning to think I would be the only one walking into the gym, I hadn’t seen anyone else until I came across you. I’m Makoto Naegi! It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

“I’m Kiyotaka Ishimaru, and it’s very nice to meet you as well!” I bowed, trying to be as respectful as possible.

“H-hey now, no need to bow! We’re students, so let’s try to stay formal.”

“Ah, yes…” I got pretty embarrassed at what Naegi, my new classmate, just said. Oh great, I blew it! My first chance at a friendship, gone because I was being  _ too kind! How ironi- _

“So, what’s your ultimate talent, Ishimaru?” My thoughts were interrupted by Naegi asking that simple question.

“Well, um, I’m the Ultimate Lucky Student. I got in here through a nationwide poll, being the sole person selected!”

“I guess you are pretty lucky after all then! I’m the Ultimate Detective, but don’t let that intimidate you. I am just as friendly as anyone else could be, so I look forward to spending time with you once we get settled into class!” Ultimate Detective, huh? That’s a very respectable title to have, but it doesn’t look very fitting for Naegi, to be completely honest.

“Well, it’s nice talking to you Naegi! I wonder what the rest of our class will turn out to be like!” After that statement, we both started walking towards the gym, passing small talk along the way. However, after a certain amount of time, I brought up the question that’s been bugging me for awhile.

“Hey Naegi, I take it that you heard the announcement that got me out of my classroom. Do you know who or what was behind that voice?”

“Well, I’m glad you mentioned it. That’s been bothering me this entire time I’ve been awake.” Hearing what he said, I quickly interrupted him.

“Ah, you woke up in your classroom as well? I thought I was the only one!”

“...Interesting. If I had to guess, every student woke up in a separate room and is now on their way to the gym. Let’s see if we can meet up with anyone else to confirm our suspicions.”

“Agreed.” We both started walking a bit faster, and saw the door to the gym. But before we could enter…

“Hey, you two over there! Wait up!” A cheerful voice called us from behind. We turned around to see a tan girl with a white undershirt and a red jacket on, with some sweatpants as well. She had a pin in her hair that resembled an 8-bit spaceship, and her hair was fashioned in the style of a ponytail sticking up. “I’m Aoi Asahina, but my friends all call me Hina. It’s nice to meet you two! I’m the Ultimate Gamer!” 

“The Ultimate Gamer, huh? Well I’m Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate Detective. It’s nice to meet you, Hina!” Naegi spoke first, a big smile on his face, and then gestured for me to start my own introduction.

“And I’m Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the Ultimate Lucky Student! It’s a pleasure to meet you, Asahina!”

“Please, call me Hina! I don’t mind it! Seriously! Now let’s get into the gym, I’m sure everyone else is waiting for us!”

“Very well! Naegi, Hina let’s go!” We walked through the doors to see a huge gymnasium; at the other side of the gym, 13 students, and an empty podium with a microphone attached. 

“Three more, huh? I guess that’s the last of us, then.” A stranger with the craziest dreadlocks I’ve ever seen said not too long after we entered. 

“Took you all long enough. Sheesh, why do I have to be stuck waiting for everyone to get here before this assembly starts?” Another student, with medium-length blonde hair and glasses stated.

“Shut the hell up man! We’re all disoriented from what happened, give them a break!” This time, a muscular guy with a ridiculous hairstyle yelled at that other guy.

“Can you two just shut the fuck up? If you guys keep talking, I’ll kill you both! You’re so fuckin annoying!” A small student with a blonde buzz-cut was yelling at the two fighting, until a girl with silver hair and red eyes told him to stop. He got embarrassed and kept his mouth shut. Everyone else was just looking at the group quarreling, until we all heard the intercom turn back on, and looked towards the podium. There were so many unique people here. There was a guy with dark pink hair and shark-like teeth, trying to stand next to a fair maiden with light blonde hair and a casual dress on. There was another guy, not too far from them, with dark hair and a streak of grey hair in the middle, with a gang jacket and insignia and tattoos. Not too far from them, a boy who looked almost similar to Makoto, completely normal, wore a fighting garb, and was standing next to a massive gu- no wait, was that a woman??? Wearing athletic clothes. And then, on the other side, a girl with light lavender hair wore a completely white outfit with an armband that said ‘hall monitor’ on her left upper arm. She was standing next to a girl with light brown hair, playing with what looked to be like 2 or 3 hamsters next to her, and another girl with dark brown unkept hair and an athletic jacket covering an undershirt and athletic shorts.

“Ahem, now that everyone is here, I’d like to start orientation! Upupupu!”

“Who the hell- where are you? Too afraid to show yourself?” That foul-mouthed guy with what I now discerned to be a pompadour was talking into space, hoping the voice behind the intercom would show themselves.

“What the- hey, don’t talk back to your headmaster like that! I’d hate to have to punish you as soon as we started this fun little game!”

“Game? What are you talking about, this is our school, isn’t it?” The silver haired girl asked curiously. And then, all of the sudden, a half-white, half-black teddy bear jumped out onto the top of the pedestal, with one black eye and one red, fancily-shaped eye. To add on to all of the shock factor, it started talking!

“Jeez, you kids need to learn some patience! I was trying to make a big reveal until corn-head opened up his big mouth!” Everyone looked at bear, either scared, confused, or slightly amused. No, seriously, Hina was almost about to laugh. But one person was enraged.

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY HAIR?! I OUGHTA BEAT THE SHIT OUTTA YOU!” The vulgar guy started running up to the bear, but halted himself whenever Naegi screamed at him to stop.

“Hey, stop! We need to be careful, I don’t trust that… that thing!” the vulgar guy looked at Naegi with an intense stare before mumbling to himself and walking back.

“AS I WAS SAYING, before corncob interrupted me, this is a game! You all came here to attend Hope’s Peak Academy, but I have different plans for you. You’re to stay trapped in here for the rest of your lives! Upupupu!” Gasps were heard all around the gymnasium. Hina wasn’t laughing anymore; she stared at this bear, in shock and fear as her mood quickly changed. 

“That’s right, I forgot to mention! My name is Monokuma, and I’ll be the headmaster here at Hope’s Peak Academy for the rest of your lives! Upupupu! Now I know what you’re thinking, surely there must be a way out of here! And there is!” After this was said, this bear, no, Monokuma, stood there with a devilish smile on his face, while Hina started calming down a bit. I understood her fear; being unable to escape this place is terrifying, and if what this b- Monokuma said is true, we might have a chance out. Now we just have to hear what it is, and-

“In order to escape, you have to… drum roll please!... kill another student!” Everyone gasped. Even ‘cornhead’ and that smug guy with the glasses earlier was looking at Monokuma in disbelief. 

“Kill someone? You can’t be serious!” The level-headed light blonde girl finally spoke, giving off a voice of pure elegance. 

“I am COMPLETELY serious, missy! Be it stabbing, bludgeoning, choking, poisoning, drowning, evaporating! Anything goes! As long as you can get away with your murder, you can get away from this school! Upupupu!” Once again, we all stared at Monokuma in disbelief. But that’s when I noticed the windows. Err, where windows were supposed to be. Instead, large metal plates covered the windows, the only source of light being the bright lights at the top of the gym. “Oh yeah, I forgot. Some of you stuck in classrooms with windows might have noticed those huge metal plates! Well, that’s the proof I can give you that what I’m saying is 100% true! It’s impossible for you to leave! Even the front door is covered by a huge sealed door! Upupupu! Now finish your introductions, and get to killing each other!” As soon as he said that, Monokuma ducked under the podium. Naegi cautiously went up behind the podium to check on Monokuma, but his eyes went wide.

“That bear, Monokuma, it’s gone! Completely vanished!” Naegi was taken aback by what he saw, and everyone else looked at him with a very confused expression. 

“Very well. Now that the bear is gone, we might as well introduce ourselves.” The silver haired girl spoke with a serious and unfazed tone as she looked at everyone else, and we all slowly nodded in agreement. There wasn’t much else we could do at the moment, but we were all scared. The tension in this room was so thick it could be cut with a knife. We all just started at each other until she continued, and introduced herself.

“My name is Peko Pekoyama. I am the Ultimate Affluent Progeny.” She said it very abruptly, showing almost no emotion, and intimidating almost all of us. There was an awkardly long silence before the next person, the boy with buzzcut spoke up.

“I’m Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, the Ultimate Swordsman. Don’t try to make friends with me, or I’ll fuckin kill you. I’m serious.” He gave off a pretty bad impression, to be honest. He was antagonizing everyone else in the room, besides Pekoyama, for some strange reason. Up next was Hina, followed by the large girl.

“I’m Sakura Oogami, the Ultimate Gymnast. I look forward to meeting the rest of you.” Considering how she was built, she was very gentle and kind. A nice contrast to Kuzuryuu, who we met earlier.

“And I’m Kyoko Kirigiri. Ultimate Moral Compass. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” She was similar to Pekoyama, having almost no emotion on her face. Was she really that pleased to meet us?

“Well, I guess I’m next then. Chiaki Nanami, Ultimate Breeder. I hope we can all get along while we stay here.” Her voice was lazy, but very heartwarming. If I could make friends with anyone next, I would try to be friends with her.

“Nice to meet’cha, I’m Akane Owari, Ultimate Swimming Pro!” She gave off a big smile, which was very odd considering the situation we were just in. I’m guessing she isn’t the most emotional here.

“I’m Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate… well, I don’t remember my talent. But don’t worry about it, it will be,as they say, ‘A-okay!’ and please, call me Sonia.” She had a smile on her face as well, but Sonia was very suspicious. Not remembering your talent? Could that really happen?

“And I’m Kazuichi Soda, the Ultimate Clairvoyant! I’m right 70% of the time!” He showed off his shark-teeth during his smile, scaring Hina and Sonia, and he got embarrassed and quickly started frowning. If I didn’t know any better, I would guess he’s trying to impress Sonia.

“At the shout of my name, mere mortals quiver beneath me in fear! I am Gundham Tanaka, Eternal Overlord of Ice! Muahahaha!” Everyone looked at him, very confused. Sonia was giggling. “...and I’m the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader on the rock you call earth.” His second sentence was much quieter, and he looked almost embarrassed to say it. He was going to be an interesting character, that’s for sure.

“I’m Hajime Hinata, the Ultimate Fighter. Nice to meet you.” Hinata’s introduction wasn’t anything special, just like his apperance. The same could be said of myself though, so I wasn’t judging him at all. If anything, being normal was a relief considering the rest of the students I was staying with. After Hinata, Naegi introduced himself, and something about Naegi made me feel hopeful. I don’t know what it was, but he seemed like a natural-born leader.

“I’m Yasuhiro Hagakure, the Ultimate Prince! I’m the heir to the throne of a faraway kingdom, Novoselic!” Novoselic? I’ve never heard of this place in my life! What could the inhabitants be like to have Hagakure as their leader? He seemed almost too giddy when introducing himself, as well. I don’t think he fully understands what’s going on here. Next to introduce themselves was me, so I got up and started with introductions.

“I’m Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the Ultimate Lucky Student. I look forward to working with the rest of you while we’re here.” I abruptly finished my introductions, but heard a snicker at the end. The last to introduce themselves was laughing at me.

“What’s so funny? Did I do something wrong?” I asked to this delinquent.

“Nah, it’s nothin man.” ...okay. Why did he laugh in the first place then?

“Ah, sorry about that. I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Mondo Oowada, Ultimate Mechanic. Nice to fuckin meet ya.” He went back to his original spot. I couldn’t understand him. He just seemed like such a jerk and a total delinquent, the exact opposite of me! I knew from the start that we would never get along. But at the very least, introductions were done. I wasn’t looking forward to spending the rest of my life here, but I couldn’t kill anyone! That would go against everything I stand for! We all stood there a bit before Naegi suggested we leave the gym to search for clues around the school. 

\--

I went with Hina and Naegi, and we went straight to the entrance. Just as Monokuma said, there was a gigantic metal seal covering the door.

“So, there really is no way out, is there?” Hina sighed, looking very disappointed. I was just as disappointed as Hina, feeling a pit of despair well up from within me. Until he spoke.

“Guys, don’t look so glum! Surely there’s a way out if we just think about it. It 

might take time, but as long as we don’t lose hope, we can find a way out of here. Don’t give up already guys.”

“For a detective, you’re way too much of an optimist.” We all turned behind us to see Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Mobster, staring at us, and the seal.

“Step aside, commoners, I have some investigating to do. Don’t try anything sketchy while I’m here. I can and will use the power to kill you all if I need to.” Togami left a menacing aura behind him, and he was quite frankly terrifying. No one bothered speaking back to him, and we left, cutting our investigation way too short. We tried searching around the rest of the hallways only to notice that our door rooms had our nameplates on them. Mine was next to Naegi’s and… Oowada’s. 

“Please tell me that these rooms are soundproof.” I said to myself. And not too long after I said that…

“They are indeed! Thanks for asking!” Monokuma appeared out of nowhere to answer my question.

“AAAH! What the- how did you get here?” I asked Monokuma.

“Upupupu, it’s a secret! And it’s not important anyways! Now hurry up to the cafeteria! Everyone is trying to meet up there, but you three slowpokes are out of the loop yet again!” As soon as he said that, he vanished. 

“He just comes and goes as he pleases. And what was that about meeting up in the cafeteria? Wasn’t Byakuya just behind us? Surely that’s a lie.” I said nervously to Hina and Naegi. 

“Well, we won’t know until we look into it ourselves.” Naegi, the voice of reason, spoke out once again. Something about him just seemed too perfect.

\--

“As we approached the door to the cafeteria, we quickly scouted out the rest of the rooms in the main hall. It looked like there was a sauna, a further hall leading down to an incinerator, a laundromat, and various other dorm rooms. There was also a restroom, and an entry to an upper floor that had been sealed off. Inside of the cafeteria, to our disbelief, what Monokuma said was right. Everyone, even Togami, was inside, once again waiting for us.

“Once again, you make us wait. How seriously are you three taking this game? Your lives are on the line, you know.” The more Togami talked, the less I respected him. All he did was stir drama for the fun of it. 

“How can anyone tolerate you? You only spew negativity out of your mouth.” Pekoyama boldly replied to Togami, and he tensed up and gave her a glare.

“Excuse me, Pekoyama, how can anyone like me? How can anyone like  _ you, or your family  _ after the monopoly you have over the steel industry?? Answer me that before you talk about dislike you stuck up bi-”

“What the fuck were you gonna say to her, huh? Don’t pick on a girl like that you senseless trash! I’ll fuckin kill you!” Kuzuryuu objected to Togami, going into a fit of rage. Is there a reason why he’s being so overprotective of her?

“Kuzuryuu, stop. I can handle this myself, I don’t need your help.” Pekoyama said in backlash. “Togami, surely you understand that none of the decisions being made were my doing. Yes, my family has caused a monopoly in the steel industry, and yes I know that I’m about to become the bearer to this corrupt company, but that’s exactly why I came to Hope’s Peak; to fix what my family started, and lead this business successfully without corruption.” What Pekoyama said was eye opening. I learned more about her past in a few sentences; that surely was a sign of how she got selected as the Ultimate Affluent Progeny. Even if she was quiet, she had a way with words when she talked. Hearing her talk almost filled me with hope; despite her intimidating stature, she seemed to know exactly what she was doing, and did it effortlessly as well. Byakuya stopped talking, face red with embarrassment. 

“So, why is everyone here exactly?” Hina asked with slight perplexion on her face. 

“I asked Monokuma to gather everyone here so we could discuss what we had discovered during our own investigations.” Kyoko explained. “I figured holding it in the cafeteria would help us get familiar with this setting. Not to mention it has more than enough seating for us as well. And I can’t say for everyone, but I’d rather not hold meetings in the same place that Monokuma does, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.” 

“That sounds like a great idea! I’m surprised you came up with such a great idea under this much stress, to be honest.” I spoke, commending Kirigiri. She simply nodded slightly in return. I don’t know too much about Kirigiri, but her personality is very befitting of a detective. I wonder if she was one in a past life? Regardless, she resumed speaking.

“Let’s get this meeting started then. I searched with Chiaki, Hajime, and Akane. We found out that there’s a school store here that takes something called ‘monocoins’ to use. I don’t know what they are or where we can find them, however.” A school store, huh? But what use do we have for a school store if we’re going to be stuck here forever?

“In addition, we checked all around the gym. There doesn’t seem to be much of anything there, even in the supply closet. But I guess if you wish to exercise, running would be the option, and it would be best done there.” Chiaki spoke, and Akane nodded along with her.

“There’s also a set of bathrooms near the gym. I couldn’t find anything special in the boy’s bathroom though. I even checked for secret doors, haha!” Hajime added, with a cheerful tone and a joke that didn’t go too well. He stopped laughing and awkwardly added that that was all they’d found during investigation. 

“Guess we’re next then, heh.” Hagakure nodded to his group, consistent of Oowada and Oogami. “We found an A/V room! There are a lot of computers there with CD slots, but there wasn’t anything in there we could use.”

“In addition, Oowada and myself each checked one of the two classrooms on this floor. There was nothing special about them, excluding the fact that there were bolted windows once again. Also, after checking the campus section, we went to the dorm rooms and noticed that the hallways we originally entered from were sealed off by a wall. There’s only 2 classrooms on the floor now.” Oogami explained how the standalone rooms we entered from no longer had a trace of existing. That’s strange, maybe we were hallucinating before we all got in the gym? It doesn’t make sense for a whole block of classrooms to just suddenly disappear.

“Ah, yeah, there’s also a nurse’s office on th’ floor, but we can’t get in it yet.” Oowada spoke. His addition to his group clearly wasn’t as great as Oogami’s and Hagakure’s, I’m surprised they let him tag along.

“Our group consisted of Soda, Tanaka, and myself.” We checked our own dorm rooms thoroughly. Each room has a desk, bed, and monitor with its own monitor. Furthermore, the bathroom doors in all of the girl’s rooms have locks. Each room is also soundproof.” Sonia explained, making me cringe when I recalled Monokuma popping out when I mentioned soundproofing. 

“Ah, listen to Miss Sonia. She has such a way with words! Anyways, in addition, every boy has a toolkit in their desk, and every girl has… something, I honestly forgot since I didn’t go in a girl’s room. Just check it out later.” Soda said. He seems somewhat unreliable, and that’s backed up by his talent of Ultimate Clairvoyant. Father always told me Fortune Telling was a scam, after all.

“After I went into the bathroom, the messenger of death spoke to me, uncovering a truth that water is blocked off at dusk. The God of Water won’t communicate with us again until dawn of the next day.” Tanaka added.

“What are you talking about?” Owari added, completely baffled by Tanaka’s diction.

“He means that the water in the bathrooms won’t come on at night time, so you need to shower in the morning or before night time officially begins.” Soda said. He seems like a good Tanaka translator.

“I went with Pekoyama and searched the laundromat. There’s plenty of room for us to wash our own clothes, there’s like 8 whole driers there. Togami can use all of them to dry out his ego, heh.” Kuzuryuu explained how the laudromat room worked, with Pekoyama adding in anything he forgot. Togami gave an intense stare to Kuzuryuu, who just smirked in return. Their tension was truly scary; either one of them could be easily targeted first.

“I investigated by myself, and I uncovered that the front door is a large steel mechanism currently acting as a seal. The only way the door will open is, presumably, from the sole survivor or the blackened being successful in hiding a murder. You all don’t need to worry about that, as it’s clear I’m the one getting out of here alive. I’ll even be a little bold and state that my first target is Little Miss Monopoly, and possibly her bodyguard if I get extra sadistic.” Togami talked with a smug tone, smirking and waiting for Kuzuryuu to pounce on him; this didn’t happen. I noticed Pekoyama stare and Kuzuryuu, and he simply nodded and mumbled to himself. I went over to Naegi and whispered to him.

“Hey Naegi, do you think Kuzuryuu and Pekoyama are already well established with each other?” 

“I think you’re exactly right. It almost seems like a sort of business decision, seeing how he feels the need to protect her at all costs. Let’s try to talk to them later and see if we can get some more information out of them.”

“Agreed. Oh, hey looks like it’s time for us to present.” I noticed a stray face, then two, then four, then  _ ten _ , and now everyone else was looking at us, ready for us to present our info. I stood up out of my chair and began to explain how there was an incinerator, how our rooms had nameplates, and everything else we discovered, such as the bathrooms in the dorm area and the blocked off sauna. After explaining, Monokuma walked into the cafeteria and began handing out blank tablets to each of us.

“Seeing as you’re in a school, you have to follow some rules! These are your student e-Handbooks, and they have your names and talents, in case you forget. Looking at you, Hagakure.”

“Hey!”

“Upupupu! In addition, they also have all of the school rules you need to follow in order to stay alive.  _ Failure to abide by the rules will result in PUNISHMENT!  _ Am I clear?”

“Umm, what exactly do you mean by punishment?” Hina asked

“Well, death of course! Upupupu!” There was an awkward silence in the room. Everyone had started to take Monokuma seriously after the barred windows incident, and we all knew that death would occur if we failed to follow the rules.

“Aww, what’s wrong guys? Did I  **_kill_ ** the mood? Upupupu! Now hurry up and go to sleep! It’s night time, so scram!” Monokuma vanished. Night time? Already? I decided to check the e Handbook and surely enough, it was already 9:56 PM.

“Hey guys, only 4 more minutes until night time. We should disperse to our rooms.” I said.

“Yeah mom, I get it.” Oowada said sarcastically, much to my discontent.

“Seriously though, the e-Handbook says that the cafeteria is off limits at night time, so we need to get out of here.” Makoto reinforced what I said with one of the rules in the handbook. We all quickly said our goodbyes and headed off to our rooms.

\--

Once I got to my room, I had trouble sleeping. This whole situation was just too much to take in. We wake up in a random classroom, once we leave the halls, that classroom disappears, and we have orientation with a white and black bear telling us we’re in a killing game? This sounds like an awful nightmare, but unfortunately it was nothing but the truth. I tucked myself in, turned off the lights, and feel asleep…or at least, tried to. Whether I liked it or not, this was going to be the rest of my life.


	2. First Steps Towards Despair; The Art of Compromise - Daily Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Daily Life events of Chapter 1 occur, up to the Body Discovery Announcement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pre-Chapter Survivors.  
> Ishimaru - Lucky Student  
> Mondo - Mechanic  
> Makoto - Detective  
> Kyoko - Moral Compass  
> Asahina - Gamer  
> Sakura - Gymnast  
> Byakuya - Gangster  
> Hagakure - Prince  
> Hajime - Fighter  
> Chiaki - Breeder  
> Gundham - Biker Gang Leader  
> Sonia - ???  
> Soda - Clairvoyant  
> Peko - Affluent Progeny  
> Fuyuhiko - Swordsman  
> Akane - Swimming Pro
> 
> What will this chapter's motive be? And who will be killed? Find out in tonight's chapter!

Even in an abstract situation like this, I managed to sleep. Even if it was only 3 hours (assuming the clock time was correct), and I woke up various times at night in fear, I was able to sleep. After one single day here, sleep felt like solace, like a safe haven where I could push my stress aside, like a place of hope. Hope, however, wasn’t welcome in this school, and I recognized that as soon as I heard the morning announcement. Monokuma stated it was 7 am, and time to wake up. I got up, ready to face the second day of the rest of my life, before I heard a knock at the door.

“Hey Ishimaru! What’s up!” I was pleased to be greeted by Hina this morning. Naegi and Hina were my closest friends here, even if for only a day. Having friends in a killing game like this meant having hope, even if that hope wouldn’t be long lived.

“Ah, Good morning Hina! Did you sleep well?” I asked.

“I tried to, and kind of managed. But hey, getting sleep at all here seems like a blessing, so I’m not complaining. How about you?”

“I was able to sleep, if not for long. That morning announcement is going to have to take some getting used to!” I joked, and Hina giggled. We walked to Naegi’s room to see if he was up, and I got ready to knock on the door. But as soon as I did, I noticed a big figure walking behind us grumpily. It was Oowada.

“Good morning Oowada.” I said, trying to hide my dislike for him.

“Shut th’ hell up.” He replied to me lazily, probably still half-asleep. Geez, he was a bonafide delinquent, not a single good bone in his body! Maybe I could talk to him later today and try to straighten him up. That attitude won’t take him far in a situation like this. Now that I think about it, why did I care about him bettering himself? He hasn’t taken me seriously for a second. Would he even listen to what I wanted to say to him?

\--

“Uh, Ishimaru? Are you alright? You’ve been kind of staring at Oowada  for the past minute…” My thoughts were interrupted by Hina’s words. It took me a second to realize what she said, and my face went red as I got defensive.

“I-i-i uh… I was just thinking about how much of a delinquent he is! He could really use an attitude makeover! I don’t want anyone here to die, and his personality makes him a bigger target!” I responded quickly and shakily.

“Yeah, sure. Naegi isn’t answering though. I’m sure he would have heard us talking by now, so maybe he already left?” Hina thought I was lying! Did she think I had some sort of respect for Oowada? Unbelievable!

“Perhaps we should check out the cafeteria? Maybe everyone is heading there for breakfast.” I suggested.

“That sounds like a great idea. Let’s go!” Hina talked with her usual cheerful tone. She was a great person to have around in this life or death game.

 

**_Chapter 1: First Steps Towards Despair; The Act of Compromise_ **

 

Our suspicions were confirmed when we walked into the cafeteria and saw Naegi waving at us, saving a table for our trio. Hina and I quickly walked over to the table, grabbing some seats and sitting down.

“Good morning Naegi! How was your night?” I greeted Naegi, trying to set a positive mood for the rest of the conversation.

“It actually went pretty well! Ironically enough, I slept great! These beds are really comfortable compared to the ones at my home.” I winced as Naegi talked about how great his sleep was. How could you possibly be able to sleep so well already?

“Oh, actually, Ishimaru, I wouldn’t mind if you called me Makoto from now on. No need to be so formal!” Naeg- Makoto just asked me to call him by his first name? Does that mean we’re really friends now? I’ve never really had friends before coming to Hope’s Peak, so I -

“Oh, and while we’re at it, why don’t I call you by a nickname as well? Hmm… how about Taka?” I was interrupted by Makoto asking to call me by a nickname? I’ve never been given a nickname like Taka before!

“That sounds great!” I was jubilant and grinned for a long time. I’ve finally made a good friend! “Hina, you can call me by that nickname too!”

“Alright, Taka!  Let’s finish eating, and see if we can talk to some of the other students here.” Hina replied encouragingly. That’s right! I need to see if I can talk to Pekoyama or Kuzuryuu about their connection with each other, and I also want to see if I can possibly talk some sense into Oowada as well. I finished a rather enjoyable breakfast, and said my goodbyes to Hina. I asked Makoto to stay for just a second.

“Hey, Makoto. I was wondering if today we could go along with our plan to try and talk to Pekoyama and Kuzuryuu. Maybe we can see if there really is a connection between the two of them.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll have you talk to Pekoyama, since I definitely have more experience interrogating. Kuzuryuu looks like he’s going to be a tough nut to crack. Let’s meet up back in the cafeteria 3 hours from now to discuss what we’ve learned.” Makoto replied. It was interesting; as soon as Makoto started talking about detective work, his mannerisms changed completely, as if he was a different person.

“Very well. I’ll see you then, Makoto.” I nodded in agreement, said my goodbyes, and looked for Pekoyama. That didn’t take too long, as I saw her walking down the hallway as soon as I left the cafeteria.

\--

“Umm, excuse me, Pekoyama.” I nervously got the attention of Pekoyama.

“Yes, what is it Ishimaru?” Her words, once again, had almost no emotion; as lifeless as steel.

“I was wondering if I could talk to you for a bit. To get to know you a bit better.” The nerves kept crawling up my body, and my shoulders stiffened out.

“I’m not interested in you, so don’t bother,” Pekoyama quickly replied, and my face flushed. She thought I wanted to ask her out on a date!?

“AH, NO NO, I don’t want to ask you out on a date! I was just asking so we could become better friends! There’s no need to worry about that, hahaha!” I laughed awkardly and waited for a reply. She stood there for a second, pondering.

“Very well. Let’s talk in the gym. And only for 15 minutes.” 15 minutes? I don’t know if I can get that much personal information out of her in 15 minutes! My nerves had covered me completely at this point.

“Well, this really won’t take long at all, so I don’t even t-think we need to go to the gym!”

“Then what do you want?”

“Oh, I was just wondering if you and Kuzuryuu are related to each o-” I covered my mouth as soon as I realized I was thinking out loud. Pekoyama stared at me for about 10 seconds, before she spoke again.

“You need to leave. Now.”

“Okbye” I left quickly and started to speed walk towards my room. Instead, I walked right past my room, and down the hallway to the rest of the dorms. Not paying attention to how fast I was walking, I turned rather quickly and -

**_*Bam!*_ **

I ran right into Oowada, and landed right on the ground. 

“Watch where you’re fuckin going, will ya?” I got off the ground, regained my composure, and apologized.

“Now scram. I don’t have time to be dealin with ya.” He left just as quickly as I showed up, and I went back to my room.  _ I just can’t stand him. _

\--

After spending the rest of my free time in my room, sulking because I just antagonized the  _ Ultimate Affluent Progeny,  _ I went outside and decided I should talk to someone else. I went around the building until I ran into Owari. Maybe I’ll talk to her.

“Hey Owari, do you mind talking to me for a bit?”

“Sure, no problem Is… uh, what was your name? Who cares! Do you want to go anywhere in particular? Sorry, I’m really bad with names.” Yeah… she’s right about that.

“It’s Ishimaru. Does the A/V room sound fine?”

“Yeah, alright. Let’s go there, Ishima...ru!” And so we went to the A/V to start getting to know each other better, even if it started with  _ re _ -learning names.

\--

“So, what’s your favorite food?” Owari asked me.

“Hmm, I’m not sure. I don’t eat too many different types of food. My father can usually only afford noodles…”

“Well noodles are good! I like lots of food, it gives me more energy for swimming!”

“I’m sure food gives you energy, but isn’t it bad to eat before you swim? Don’t you get cramps?”

“Huh? Oh, that’s just one of those urban legend things. I think! Food never makes me perform badly, so I eat it up! Food is great, it lets me take a break from the rest of my life!” The rest of her life? Is… is something wrong with where she grew up?

“I’ve never thought about food like that. Maybe I’ll note that in my mind for later. Thanks, Owari! Actually, do you mind if I start calling you Akane from now on?”

“Sure thing, Ishimako. I’ll see ya later!” Uh oh… looks like this name thing is going to be an issue.

“Bye Akane!”

\--

After visiting Akane for awhile, I went out towards the cafeteria to talk to Makoto. Thankfully, the only other person in the cafeteria was Hagakure, eating lunch by himself and waving hi whenever I entered.

“Good afternoon, Hagakure!” I said kindly, and he replied in return. I grabbed the seat on the opposite side of Makoto, and got ready to discuss my failure.

“So, um, I’m going to be blunt. I failed to talked to Pekoyama! I deeply apologize! You can hit me if you need to, I know I failed, and-”

“Wh- hit you? Why would I do that? You just need to calm down, Taka. I’m not mad at you in the slightest.”

“Huh? You aren’t? B-but I failed! That shouldn’t go unpunished!”

“You didn’t fail, Taka, I couldn’t get Kuzuryuu to talk either. They were just not willing to talk, which is understandable. Barely anyone can trust someone else in this game so quickly, so they’re probably just suspicious of us. I mean, the reason we talked to them was because of suspicion. Seriously, don’t worry.” Makoto’s words brought me back to my senses. I don’t know what it was, but he was always so good at maintaining my composure and bringing me back. 

“You’re right. I’m sorry for letting my emotions get a hold of me. It happens too often.”

“Don’t worry about it, Taka. And don’t forget, you’re my  _ friend,  _ talk to me if you ever have a problem, I’m willing to listen.” I nodded understandingly. I’m glad I made such a great friend already. We talked for a bit before hearing a familiar voice call out to us.

“Makoto! Taka! Come meet my new friend, Sakura!” Hina talked with a giddy tone and introduced us to the Ultimate Gymnast.

“It is a pleasure to talk to you, Naegi and Ishimaru. Please call me Sakura.” Once again, something about her personality was so gentle and caring, not befitting of her physical stature at all. 

“Well, Hina, I must say I’m glad that you’ve already made so many good friends! You should teach me how to make friends sometimes, haha!” I tried to make a joke, but I don’t think it worked. I heard an awkward laugh and Hina looked at me with a worried face, as well as Sakura. Oh no, did I say something wrong again?

“Yeah, I’ll… I’ll do that. In other news you guys, Sakura and I have decided to be training partners! I’m not the most athletic girl in the world, so I figured who better to help than the Ultimate Gymnast? I’m gonna spend all of today and tomorrow with Sakura so I can get stronger and defend myself. After all, if I’m in danger and can’t ask anyone to protect me, I might as well do it myself!” Hina sounded very determined. Good for her! She was taking this whole situation seriously well! We talked for quite some time, sharing laughs, and we talked about some memories from our past to give us some hope that escape was possibly. As if on cue…

“Attention students, please come to- you know what, no formalities! You kids better get to the gym as quick as your little feet will let you run! I have a major announcement, and punishment goes to those who aren’t here! Upupupu!” The intercom, and Monokuma’s voice cut out. 

“Sheesh, not him again. We don’t have a choice though, let’s go.” Hina’s mood changed pretty rapidly as we all headed out of the cafeteria and towards the gym. Along the way, we ran into Soda, Tanaka, and Sonia talking amongst each other. They seemed like a nice group. Soda was always making Sonia laugh, and Tanaka was… Tanaka.

\--

As we entered the gym, and waited for everyone to show up, an eerie silence filled the air. Once Togami, the last to enter, was inside, Monokuma popped up on top of the podium to explain why we were here.

“So, why have you pansies not started killing each other!? I’ve been thinking about it this whole day, and I realized the err of my ways. You guys need a motive!” A motive? I tensed up as he mentioned this. He’s completely right, we don’t have a real reason to kill yet.

“I see that some of you guys are great friends, so this motive is gonna be sweet! Alright, for each person that’s killed by the blackened, one person gets to leave! So, if two people are killed, the blackened gets to choose someone else to leave! This goes up to 3 people by the way, so don’t try to kill half of you guys so the other half can leave!” I gasped, along with two or three other students. Would someone really take advantage of this motive? While about half of us got faces of concern, I glanced over to see Kuzuryuu. He mumbled to himself, but I don’t really know what he was saying. 

“Upupu! Now that’s the despair I like to see! But before I leave, I need to explain what happens when someone decides  to kill! When a body is found by 3 people, excluding the killer, a body discovery announcement will play! I’ll give everyone some time afterwards to investigate, and then we’ll hold a class trial to decide who the blackened is. If the majority votes correctly, then only the blackened will be punished! However, if the majority votes incorrectly, I’ll punish everyone besides the blackened, and they will earn the right to leave!” The protocol for body discoveries and these so called ‘class trials’ were explained to us. Terror had risen into the eyes of many of us as we were told that if we guess a culprit incorrectly, we  _ all  _ would die. Whatever tension already existed between us was increased tenfold after this assembly. After Monokuma vanished off to who knows where, the audience in the gym trickled out one by one. Unfortunately, this announcement had set the mood for the rest of the day. Not only was a powerful motive introduced, but a group of inexperienced high schoolers would have to debate for one of their classmates to be killed in order to spare their own lives. The audience in the gym slowly but surely trickled out, and soon I was getting ready to leave before I was stopped.

“Hey man, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” It was… Hagakure? Why did he want to talk to me?

“Alright, sure. Is there anywhere in particular that you want to go?”

“Hmm… How about we go to my room? I want to talk in private, if that’s okay with you!”

“That’s fine. Let’s get going then, shall we?”

\--

As I was led into Hagakure’s room, I took a moment to become aware of my surroundings. There were all of these strange ancient artifacts inside of his room. 

“Hagakure, you have… a lot of things inside of your room. What is all of this?”

“Oh, it’s all some memoirs from Novoselic, of course! That’s why you probably haven’t seen these anywhere else before, right!?” He’s right, I haven’t seen these before… but they’re pretty suspicious.

“So, Hagakure. Since you mention it so often, what even is Novoselic? What’s it like?”

“Well, it’s a pretty awesome place! It’s a small island basically in the middle of nowhere, but everyone there gets along! In fact, it’s so small that it isn’t even recognized as a country! That makes me a bit mad, to be honest.”

“You say it’s small, but… how many people actually live there?”

“Oh, about 50 people.”

“50!? That’s less than most towns, no, most streets! How can you even be called a prince like that?”

“Hey man, don’t say stuff like that! It’s kinda rude, and it reminds me of how small the place is. I’m trying to fix that, you know.”

“Fix it? How?”

“Well,  I wanted to go to Hope’s Peak so I could get Novoselic more popular! If  _ the Ultimate Prince  _ went to Hope’s Peak for an island like Novoselic, then people would be interested in visiting, right?”

“...Now that you mention it, you have a point. I’m starting to understand why the Ultimate Prince, of all people, is at Hope’s Peak. It makes me appreciate your motives a bit more.”

“Hey, you were really that doubtful of me!? C’mon, no one gives me the benefit of the doubt!”

“Well, if you heard a stranger say they were the Prince of an island that had 50 inhabitants, wouldn’t you be… suspicious? It sounds like you’re lying, almost.”

“Hmph. So nobody takes me seriously at all then?”

“... I, I didn’t mean it like tha-”

“No, it’s okay. I’m used to this. But I would really like it if  _ someone _ took me seriously. Even if they thought I was some evil strategic mastermind, I would be fine with it! As long as someone thought what I said or did was genuine.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know, I don’t talk to others often. It’s hard for me to get the tells of conversation sometimes.”

“That’s fine, I guess. Us talking was just a recipe for disaster then. I want people to take me seriously, and you can’t keep your mouth shut!”

“...”

“...Ah, sorry! Well, I did say I wanted to ask you a question, right?”

“Yes, you did. What was it?”

“What do I do?”

“Huh? I don’t unders-”

“Like, We’re stuck here! I abandoned my people! I must be a horrible prince!”

“No, you aren’t. You only wanted to do what was best for your island. You… you, no, none of us could have expected us to go through this!”

“...Yeah, you’re right! And,believe it or not, you took me seriously! Man, this feels great! I would  _ do anything _ for something like this to happen again!” He was happy now, but what he said felt… off.

“That’s great. But I think I need to head out. I’m getting...tired. I’ll see you later, Hagakure.”

“Oh, see ya then! Let’s talk again soon!”

Did I just make a friendship with Hagakure? I don’t know if that could be called a friendship, but I definitely got to know him better.

\--

Dinner was quiet tonight. I sat in with Makoto and ate some pretty good food. I saw Hina sitting over a few tables away talking to Sakura. Most people at this point had found someone else or a group to talk with, excluding Togami and Oowada. They both kind of sat by themselves in the cafeteria during dinner tonight, and while Togami seemed unfazed by this, Oowada looked grumpy and angry. It couldn’t be that he wanted someone to spend time with him? I’m sure he’s spent plenty of time alone and is able to cope with it well. I’ll try talking to him tomorrow though to see if he would be willing to straighten up, or at least open up a bit to me. I said  my goodbyes to Makoto, waved to Hina out the way to the door, and after a quick detour to the restroom, headed over to my dorm. Before I got to my room, however, I was interrupted by Oowada’s voice.

“Hey, you! C’mere, I need ta talk to ya.” Oowada wanted to start a conversation with me?

“Uh, sure Oowada, but I’ll be heading to my room before the night time announcement, okay?”

“Yeah, ‘s fine.” I was invited into Oowada’s room. Compared to my own, I saw a  collection of tool boxes, what looked like a work-in-progess project, and a poster above his bed that said ‘Crazy Diamonds.’ It’s a shame my room had basically nothing but the essentials. I’ll have to check out the school store sometime to see if I can find decorations for my own room.

“So, why did you call me in here, Oowada? Can I be of any assistance?”

“Cut the crap. No need ta be formal, geez. I was just gonna ask what you and Makoto were talking about earlier today.”

“Oh, you knew about that? Well, if I tell you, you need to keep this a secret from everyone else.”

“Sure thing, kid.”

“Stop calling me a kid, I’m just as old as you.” I pouted.

“Whatever, just tell me what all of yer sketchy shit’s about.”

“Fine. We were trying to investigate Pekoyama and Kuzuryuu to see if they had some sort of connection to each other outside of this game. Kuzuryuu was so hot-headed, but always stopped whatever he did when Pekoyama willed it. Stuff like that just raises suspicion.” I explained to Mondo what we had been doing earlier today.

“Huh? And what would that have to do with you two? Why are ya botherin them? They did nothin to ya.” I glanced to the side. He did have a good point.

“...I guess you’re right. I shouldn’t have gone out of my way to ask for personal information so quickly from them. I apologize.”

“Don’t apologize to me, talk to them before it’s too late.”

“Too late? What do you mean Mondo?”

“I’m not mad at ya for being suspicious of them, I am too. Just don’t blurt yer suspicions out so easily, ya dunce.”

“Why are you saying all of this to me, Mondo? Am I in danger?” I tensed up.

“Listen. I don’t want anyone here ta die, not yet anyways. During Mono-shit’s assembly, I noticed that you saw Kuzuryuu’s behavior change at the mention of the new motive. I think he’s planning to commit a murder tonight, and he’s gonna target you and Makoto. You two openly suspect them, so who better to kill, right?” As Mondo spoke, I started to view him differently. How had he been so perceptive all of this time? I had no idea he had suspicions, and he completely called me out for mine! He resumed his conversation.

“Be careful from now on, Kiyotaka. We’re only two days into this game, I don’t want anyone going out so quickly. You tell Makoto he needs to-”

**_Ding Dong!_ **

The night time announcement played.

“Shit! Night time already? Get outta here, now. Walk over to yer room quickly, and lock the door. Don’t let anyone in, ya hear?” What in the world? Why did Oowada tell me to do that?

“Very well, Oowada. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, I’ll see ya then. Stay safe, don’t go dying on us already.”

“I won’t. I promise.” I left, and quickly hustled to my room next door. I checked around my room to see if anyone was lurking. Once the coast was clear, I locked my room, and somehow, by sheer luck, quickly fell asleep. 

\--

I woke up before the morning announcements. I checked my watch that I placed on my desk; it was 6:56. In about 4 minutes, the morning announcements should play, and I can go out, safe from harm. I sat on my bed for about a minute or so, before glancing at my door and seeing a note near the floor. I went over and picked it up nervously and read it.

_ Don’t go out until the announcement plays. Also, keep your door locked when you aren’t in your room from now on. _

_ -Mondo _

Huh? Why did Mondo leave this note on the ground? Something’s off with him, but I feel like it’s best if I listen to what he says. As my watch reached 7:00, the morning announcement didn’t play. So I waited. And waited.  _ And waited.  _ And after 30 more minutes, the morning announcement finally played. 

“Was my watch time off? By a whole half-hour? I synced it up yesterday though! Even the room’s clock is off time! So why?” I talked to myself. Something was off. I quickly went outside. The hallways were empty. I went to Mondo’s room and knocked on his door. He opened the door with what looked like a sigh of relief to see me. 

“So you got my note? Thanks for following the rules, pal. I owe ya one!” He had a pretty big grin on his face. But why was he so worried about me?

“Uh, thanks? I’m gonna go wake up Hina and Makoto so we can head to the cafeteria. Do you want to come with me?”

“Eh, don’t see why not.” I led Mondo over to Hina’s room and noticed a small crack in the door.

“Oh, her door’s… open? She must have let Sakura in her room already.” I talked to Mondo, and knocked on the door, not realizing he froze in his tracks, mouth wide open. 

I started to open her door after about 10 seconds of silence.

“Hina, I’m coming in. Is that alright? It’s me, Taka.”

“Taka, no!” Huh, why did Mondo call me Taka? I never told him to cal-

 

**_Ding Dong, Ding Dong!_ **

 

“A body has been discovered! After a set amount of time that you all will use to investigate, a class trial will be held!” The announcement on the intercom ended. And what I saw when I entered that room would stay burned in the back of my eyes for the rest of my life. 

 

Hina, suspended in the air, neck held up by a noose. 

 

**_Dead._ **

 

“ **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!”**

Before I could even process what had just happened, I let out a scream. An awful, bloodcurdling stream. 

“Hina!? No, no, please tell me this isn’t true. No no no!” Before I knew it, tears were falling down my eyes. Seconds later, a bad sob. 

“The hell? Did she kill herself?” Mondo mustered up whatever sanity he had to ask that question. He unexpectedly got a response.

“No, Oowada. This scene has been set up to make it look like she killed herself.” It was Sakura.

“Hina was brave. Brave enough to live through this game without killing herself. I know that she wouldn’t have done this to herself.” You could hear how broken Sakura’s heart was by the way she spoke. Who did this? Why Hina? She didn’t deserve this! None of us did!

“We have to let the others know” Mondo tried to calm me down, but still had to stay rational. 

“Follow me to the cafeteria. Come on Taka, you have to stay strong. This is our life from now on.” Something about Mondo’s words helped me gain some of my composure. 

“...ok. if we have to.” We had to live through this? How was that even possible?

\--

As we slowly made our way to the cafeteria, Mondo noticed that three people were in the cafeteria before us. Togami, Sonia, and Pekoyama.

“What happened?” Sonia asked with visible worry on her face.

“Asahina is dead.” Mondo said it as bluntly as he possibly could, causing me to choke up a bit as he said it. 

“We need everyone here as soon as possible. Once everyone is here, we need to start our investigation.” How was Mondo so calm right now? He was the Ultimate Mechanic, not the Ultimate Detective. 

“Hey, Taka, I’m gonna get ya somethin to eat. You have ta get over this if ya want to survive. I can’t have anyone else dying.” 

“Mondo, wh-why are you… how can you t-talk so calmly? Hina is g-gone…”

“I’ll tell you later. For now, you need ta get ready to investigate. Follow me into the kitchen so we can get some food and you can calm the fuck down.” His diction was starting to return to normal, and I nodded depressingly and followed him. 

Once we got into the kitchen, we started looking for some food to eat.

“hey mondo, can you get me some utensils. I think they’re in the pantry.”

“Yeah, yeah, fine, but you better not start relyin on me often, ya hear?” That made me laugh a bit.

“Hehe. Hey Mondo, thanks for trying to cheer me up. I don’t know what’s caused you to do all of this for me, but… but I appreciate it. Seriously.”

“Yeah, no problem. It’s gonna be tough living here, but we’ve gotta stay strong, no matter what comes in our w-  **_WHAT THE FUCK!?_ ** ” Mondo let out a yell. I rushed over to him.

“Mondo? Are you alri-”

 

**_Ding Dong, Ding Dong!_ **

“A body has been discovered! After a set amount of time that you all will use to investigate, a class trial will be held!” Oh no, oh God, not again! The announcement made me close my eyes, but once I braced myself, I opened my eyes to witness a massacre.

 

Hagakure laid slouched on the ground, terror in his eyes, with a slit throat and wrists.

 

**_Another Dead._ **

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter's Victims:
> 
> Aoi Asahina - Ultimate Gamer  
> Yasuhiro Hagakure - Ultimate Prince
> 
>  
> 
> I'm sorry if you really liked these two, I felt bad killing them! I like all of the characters in this cast, and I tried to do their deaths some justice. I've been researching free time events to try and get some of the more unfamiliar cast in-character, and I hope it helped. (Especially with Hagakure's talk to Ishimaru.) I've tried to prepare solid reasons for a character's death/ why they killed, so I'm not just killing off characters that I don't like first just because. I'll have the deadly life for chapter 1 posted on Friday, most likely, so stay tuned!


	3. Chapter 1: The First Steps to Despair; The Art of Compromise - Deadly Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Investigation and Trial of Chapter 1.  
> Warning: Reading this might cause Despair! Upupu!
> 
> -monokuma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, go ahead and look through the investigation and try to guess who the blackened is! I think I might have made the culprit a bit obvious, and how I wrote the investigation definitely doesn't help solve who you might think the culprit is by too much. I'm going to be honest, I'm not proud about how I wrote the investigation, but I hope you all can overlook that this time. I'll take as much feedback as I can to help with my 2nd chapter's investigation. In terms of the 2nd chapter itself, I'm about a third of the way through the daily life section, and it's definitely a lot longer than chapter 1's! There are a lot of new plot twists and secrets revealed, and a... special character is introduced! I hope you like the way I portray this certain character, so I look forward to seeing everyone's reactions! 
> 
> ALSO, I CHANGED MY MIND!!!! I am going to do interactive free time events, so choose whoever you want for a free time event! I'll probably have 1 or 2 plot-centric/fixed free time events, like how it was in chapter 1, and then 2 viewer-selected free time events. So if there's a favorite character of yours, or someone who I haven't delved into too much, suggest them in the comments, and I'll definitely get started on those free time events! 
> 
> Also, don't expect a new chapter from me until Tuesday or Wednesday at the earliest. I'm sorry it'll take awhile (most likely), finals week is coming up, and I have to work on the weekends, so I won't be able to get much writing time then.
> 
> P.S. Yay, early uploads! I was starting to get a bit demotivated about this project before I got my Ao3 invitation, but then when I posted my fic here, it's been getting a lot of great reception! So I figured I'd give you all a gift and upload a bit earlier, and focus a bit more of my free time on this fic, as I don't have too much else to do at the moment. Thanks so much for all of the positive feedback everyone, I greatly appreciate it!
> 
> P.S.S. Do not skip to the end notes! They contain spoilers for this chapter's Deadly Life! You Have Been Warned!

**_Chapter 1: The First Steps to Despair; The Art of Compromise_ **

 

**_Deadly Life_ **

 

This can’t be happening. Only the third day in, and two people are already dead? First… Hina…, who was supposedly set up to look like a suicide case, and now Hagakure? How did he end up here? And why was _he_ killed, of all people? This wasn’t making any sense at all. Before I knew it, everyone had shown up in the cafeteria, coming to the kitchen area to see Hagakure dead, slouched on the ground, killed gruesomely.

“What the- how the hell?”

“I-i’m scared! What if that happens to me next!?”

“Foolish. Absolutely foolish.”  
“How can- how can you say that?”

“No use crying over spilled milk. He’s gone, we need to investigate to save our lives.”

As indistinguishable voices talked in the crowd behind Mondo and myself, I turned around to tell the rest of them more bad news.

“Umm… I have more bad news, everyone. Hina was found in her room, dead…”

“What!? Two kills!? Ahh, I can’t take in anymore!”

“Of course there were two kills. Didn’t you hear both of the body discovery announcements?”

“...no, I was asleep…”

“Why were both of the two killed? There must be a reason that those two were the ones targeted.” I heard Kirigiri’s voice out of the crowd. She brought up a great question; Hina, I understood. At least, if my suspicions were right, Hina was an understandable culprit. But why Hagakure? He had no connection to Hina, Makoto, and myself at all.

“Hey, Kirigiri, do you mind if I talked to you for a minute?”

**_Investigation Start_ **

 

I pulled Kirigiri to the side while Makoto and Oowada convinced everyone that they needed to start investigating the scene so we could have enough information for the class trial.

“Hey, Kirigiri. I heard you mention why the suspects were picked earlier, and I wanted to talk to you about that.”

“You do? Please tell me, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“So, yesterday, I talked with Makoto about seeing whether or not Pekoyama and Kuzuryuu had any sort of connection with each other. There was just something about them that nodded both of us as suspicious. So we each talked to one of them and got them separated, but they weren’t willing to speak.”

“...Why did you ask to speak to them? Did you realize how dangerous that could have been at the time?”

“Not at the time, no. But I realized when Mondo told me how dangerous it was later that night.”

“Mondo spoke to you? Alright. Is there anything else you want to share?”

“Ah, yes. Earlier today, I got a note placed in my room by Mondo, telling me to wait to leave until the morning announcement plays. That note helped me realize that someone set my watch back an entire 30 minutes, but I don’t know who. I had left my watch on my nightstand during last afternoon, and also had my door unlocked.”

“...Mondo knew about all of that?”

“Are you confused as to why he did? I was too. Maybe we could confront him during the trial.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Thank you for your testimony, Ishimaru. I’ll talk with Makoto and see if we can get some more information out of him. Can you go check on Sakura?”

“Yes. Thank you for listening, Kirigiri.”

\--

I quickly walked over to Hina’s room to see that Sakura was still in there. She was still in a somber mood, so I told her I would be in here to investigate.

“Very well, Taka. We need to find out who killed Hina.” Sakura replied.

As I scouted out the room, the first thing I noticed was the noose itself. Apparently, a hook had been used to hold up the rope, but how did it even get up on the ceiling in the first place?

“Hey, Sakura. Did Hina ever leave her door unlocked?”

“Yes, she had left the door unlocked so I could go into her room if I ever needed to. I even came into her room about an hour after the night time announcement.”

“Thank you for the information, I’m sure it will come in handy.” I noted to myself that it was definitely possible for anyone to set up the hook at the top, granted they could reach it. That’s when I also noticed scuff marks on the ground, trailing towards where her bed was. On her nightstand was a note, supposedly written by Hina herself.

_Oogami,_

_I’m sorry to leave you like this. I know it’s cowardly, but I want to face the consequences for what I’ve done. Yes, if you read this note by tomorrow, then Ishimaru and Naegi should be dead. And it was done by my hands, because I wanted to leave. I’m sorry, but I had to resort to this._

_Aoi Asahina_

Who in the world wrote this note?

“Hey Sakura, have you seen this note? It looks quite unusual, and very unlike her.”

“No, I haven’t. But something looks very off about this. You and Makoto are very much alive and well, so why did she ‘write this’?”

I took the note with me. I knew it would come in handy. As I was getting ready to leave the room, however…

“Hey, you kids! I almost forgot to give you these!” Monokuma handed us each a tablet called the ‘Monokuma File.’

“This is the Monokuma File! It has information written down about the victims, upupu! Read these, and you will surely feel despair! Ahahahaha!” With that Monokuma left. A Monokuma File? What in the world could this be? I decided to read into it, and found out that Hina was the first victim of this case. She had suffocated. There was a rope burn injury on her neck as well. Seems like the culprit most likely hanged her, and left her there. I also noticed the chair that was in her room was tilted over, with a leg missing.

“Alright Sakura, I think I’ve done enough investigating here. I’ll see you at the trial.”

“Very well, I’ll see you then. I take it you’ve found some useful information?”

“Yes, very useful. Thank you.”

I started heading over to the cafeteria again to see if I could investigate Hagakure’s body. But before I could enter the kitchen again,

**_Ding Dong! Everyone, Please Come to the Trial Grounds!_ **

I heard the announcement, and reluctantly headed over to the very first class trial. How could I be able to help Kirigiri if I didn’t investigate the scene of Hagakure’s murder? I’d just have to put my faith into them.

\--

Monokuma: Alright! Let’s begin with a basic explanation of the class trial! You’ll all be given time to debate who you think the blackened is. After you’re ready, voting time will begin! If the majority is correct, then only the blackened will be executed. But if you’re incorrect, I’ll punish everyone besides the Blackened, and they’ll earn the right to leave the school, along with one other person in this trial only. Okay, Let’s Begin!

Kazuichi: So… uh where do we begin?

Akane: Aren’t you a clairvoyant? You should know the future then, right? Just tell us who killed them already!

Kazuichi: That’s not how it works!

Sonia: Come on guys, we don’t need to start arguing already! Let’s first try to find out how Asahina died.

Kiyotaka: Very well then. I looked at the Monokuma File and noticed that she had suffocated, and had also received a rope burn injury. When I discovered the body, she was still being hung.

Peko: Hung? Then surely she killed herself.

Kiyotaka: I don’t think so. Sakura and I both agree that this was a set-up murder. There are multiple things that hint this, such as the suicide note she ‘wrote’. It talks to Sakura formally, and also says that she was responsible for killing not only myself, but Makoto as well. As you can see, we’re both alive.

Makoto: So what you’re saying is that the culprit planned to kill you and me, but failed to do so after the note was already written.

Kyoko: More or less, yes. That’s what he is saying. Scratching out a note like that would be suspicious, so they couldn’t rewrite what was already there.

Chiaki: So why didn’t they just make a new note? Surely it couldn’t have been that hard.

Sakura: That’s because they weren’t able to do it in time.

Gundham: How so, mortal? I expect only the best reasoning from you.

Hajime: ...

Kiyotaka: I think that Sakura was probably in the room by the time Asahina was killed. I don’t think she was killed in the middle of night time, but rather right near the start of it.

Makoto: I agree. Sakura told me that she had gone into Hina’s room an hour after the nighttime announcement ended.

Sakura: When I entered the room, Hina was already dead. I stayed in there just in case the culprit decided to show up once more to hide some of the evidence.

Fuyuhiko: Okay, so you’re saying Hina didn’t off herself. What next? And it better not waste my fuckin time.

Mondo: Well, we hafta find out who the killer was. Ungrateful trash doesn’t deserve to be alive anymore.

Kyoko: Wait right there, Oowada. Don’t go calling people names when you’re just as suspicious.

Mondo: Huh?

Kyoko: Ishimaru pulled me over before the trial started, and told me about this note you gave him.

Mondo: You did what!?

Kiyotaka: ...sorry.

Kyoko: Isn’t it suspicious that Oowada told you to stay in your room until the announcement displayed?

Kiyotaka: Well, yes, but-

Peko: What are you talking about? If you don’t mind me asking.

Kyoko: Oowada passed this note to Ishimaru sometime during nighttime hours. It instructs Ishimaru to stay in his room until the morning announcement plays.

Togami: So, why is that such a big deal? Wouldn’t he normally wait until the announcement plays anyways?

Kiyotaka: It wouldn’t have been a problem if my watch’s time hadn’t been set back. Someone got into my room and adjusted my watch time  and clock time back by 30 minutes. I was planning to go out once my watch reached 7:00 am until I discovered the note.

Mondo: I did it to save ya.

Kiyotaka: What?

Mondo: I said, I did it to save ya. I checked your room earlier and noticed the watch time set back. Becuz I’m suspicious of others, I wrote that note to stop you from gettin yerself killed.

Makoto: Oowada, do you mind telling me who you suspect could be behind this? We have no leads at all.

Mondo: Sure. ‘s Kuzuryuu.

Fuyuhiko: What the fuck did you just say? You suspecting me? After I get out of here I’ll fuckin kill you!

Peko: Calm down. Losing your composure only makes you more suspicious.

Fuyuhiko: ... fine.

Kiyotaka: (It just happened again! I have to confront them about this.)

Kiyotaka: Hey Peko… why does Kuzuryuu always listen to you, if you don’t mind me asking?

Fuyuhiko: It’s none of your fucking business! Shut the hell up!

Peko: ...

Kiyotaka: (I’m not going to get any information out of them right now.)

Kyoko: Hey, Monokuma?

Monokuma: Yes? What is it?

Kyoko: What happens if there are two killers?

Monokuma: Well, the trial will be held for the first body discovery announcement.

Kyoko: Very well. Let’s move on to Hagakure’s murder then.

Sakura: But Hina’s body was discovered first? Why do we need to discuss Hagakure’s death?

Kyoko: Because, if my suspicions are correct, his death could help us determine who the true culprit is. If we take a process of elimination to discover who was responsible for Hagakure’s death, we can find out the culprit for Hina’s death as well.

Makoto: I agree with Kyoko. There’s not enough information yet to pin down a culprit for Hina yet.

Togami: Very well then. Do explain how Hagakure was killed, to get things started.

Makoto: The Monokuma File says he was killed by suffocation as well. He also received cuts across his arms and his throat, although I suspect those to be postmortem.

Mondo: He was suffocated? Why the fuck would the culprit want ta slice him up then?

Makoto: Isn’t it obvious? To hide the cause of murder. Doing that could cut some theories short.

Mondo: But they didn’t hafta mangle his dead body like that. Poor sob.

Kyoko: Well, let’s talk about why Hagakure was found in the kitchen. If you haven’t checked the e-Handbook’s rules yet, the cafeteria closes down 10 minutes after the nighttime announcement.

Kiyotaka: So he couldn’t have been killed during nighttime?

Kyoko: Not necessarily. When I talked to Makoto during the investigation, he told me that Sonia said she was in the cafeteria up to 5 minutes after the announcement.

Sonia: That is true.

Kazuichi: Yeah, me and Gundham were hanging out with Miss Sonia as usual, but lost track of time. Monokuma told us to get out of the cafeteria, so we did.

Akane: Well if he wasn’t in the cafeteria right after the nighttime announcement, where was he?

Kyoko: I would assume in the same place that Hina was in; the culprit’s room.

Makoto: Kirigiri, did you find something during your investigation?

Kyoko: I asked Monokuma to unlock all of the rooms for this investigation. I found out that in Hagakure’s room, there was a note that asked him to meet up in _Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko’s Room._ I can tell you now that this evidence isn’t solid enough to condemn Kuzuryuu, but it’s worth looking into.

Kuzuryuu: What the fuck? I didn’t write that note though! I seriously didn’t!

Kyoko: I would believe that to be true, but the bloodstains on your carpet prove otherwise. For the Ultimate Swordsman, I must say you did a bad job at cleaning up the blood from a sword wound.

Kuzuryuu: T-that… I… SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Hajime: Bloodstains!? Then, that means-

Peko: So what? If you’re saying he killed Hagakure, then how did he move the body to the cafeteria before the cafeteria closed, and after anyone showed up?

Kiyotaka: (Wait a minute… are Pekoyama and Kuzuryuu both involved in the murder of Hagakure? I’ll press them further.)

Kiyotaka: That’s because...he didn’t put Hagakure’s body in the cafeteria. Not after the nighttime announcement anyways.

Peko: So you’re saying he carried the body all the way to the cafeteria from his dorm room  before anyone else got there? Do you see how hard it would be for someone small like him to actually carry Hagakure? Not to mention that his room is the furthest away from the cafeteria.

Kiyotaka: That would be tough for him to do, yes. By himself. But if he had someone helping him carry the body, that wouldn’t be an issue.

Peko: !

Kiyotaka: Pekoyama, if you tell me the connection that you have with Kuzuryuu, it would explain why he couldn’t be the culprit.

Kyoko: If I’m being honest, you aren’t hiding anything from us. The both of you together are incredibly suspicious. Being honest now would make us more likely to believe you and put our trust in you.

Fuyuhiko: P-peko! No, don’t listen to them!

Makoto: Should have kept your mouth shut, Kuzuryuu. That outburst just confirmed our suspicions.

Fuyuhiko: I-i! No, I! Ju-

Peko: We’re business partners.

Fuyuhiko: Huh!?

Kyoko: … I see. Things are starting to make a bit more sense now.

 

**_Class Trial Intermission_ **

 

**_Class Trial Resumed_ **

Kiyotaka: Can you explain further, Pekoyama? What do you mean by business partners?

Peko: We are connected with each other. It’s just as you and Naegi suspected. My father hired him as my personal bodyguard. Nothing...nothing more, nothing less, and that’s all you need to know. Now, how does this remove suspicion from Fuyuhiko?

Kyoko: Unfortunately for you, by putting said suspicion on yourself.

Peko: …then explain yourselves. Your suspicion is worthless without any evidence.

Kiyotaka: If you had a connection to Kuzuryuu, then you could have been an accomplice in Hagakure’s murder. With the current motive, you’d have nothing to lose.

Makoto: Furthermore, during the middle of nighttime, you could have easily helped move Hagakure to your own room. You’d just need to wait until the blood dried if you killed him early enough. Peko’s room is the closest to the cafeteria, so all she’d need to do is carry Hagakure to the cafeteria gates and wait for the morning announcements.

Fuyuhiko: So what!? This is all just fuckin assumption! I refuse to believe it!

Peko: … it’s true.

Fuyuhiko: W-wait, what!?

Peko: It’s true. Fuyuhiko killed Hagakure. There’s no use arguing, he got our plan down to a tee. I’ll explain everything after voting time.

Fuyuhiko: WHAT!? Peko, you’re gonna sacrifice me!?

Peko: It’s for the good of the company. I’m sorry, but I hope you understand. Monokuma, please start the voting time.

Monokuma: Well, if you insi-

Mondo: WAIT A MINUTE!

Peko: …

Kiyotaka: Mondo, what’s wrong?

Mondo: T-that bitch is tryin ta trick us!

Peko: …

Fuyuhiko: Don’t you dare call Peko a bitch! I’ll fuckin kill you, you sick bastard!

Mondo: She’s tryin ta make us vote for Hagakure’s killer, but that’s not important for this trial.

Kiyotaka: (Now that he mentions it…)

Kiyotaka: Yes, you’re right. We have to vote for Hina’s killer, but there’s a good chance Kuzuryuu wasn’t responsible for her death. He’d be too busy dealing with Hagakure’s body to deal with another kill at the time.

Kyoko: Then vote for Pekoyama.

Akane: Are you sure Pekoyama is the one who killed Hina?

Makoto: Yes. In order to solidify each other’s alibis.

Chiaki: How could they strengthen each other’s alibis then?

Makoto: If we were tricked to believe that Kuzuryuu killed Hagakure, and Pekoyama helped with _Hagakure’s_ murder, then neither of them would have been able to kill Hina before nighttime, let alone place Hina’s body in her room within the first hour of night time.

Kyoko: If Pekoyama lured in Asahina and strangled her just a bit before nighttime in her own room, Fuyuhiko wouldn’t have any evidence leading to him being her killer. This is the inverse for Kuzuryuu and Hagakure.

Peko: So… that’s the theory you’ve come up with then? How about you explain to everyone here what you believe happened in a summary then? Once you do, I can explain why you’re wrong.

Kiyotaka: If you insist.

Kiyotaka: (It’s the moment of truth… Here I go!)

 

**_Closing Argument_ **

This double murder started with three original targets;Hina, Makoto and myself. However, due to circumstances I don’t know yet, the victims were changed to Hina and Hagakure.

 

Act 1

Hina was lured into Pekoyama’s room, and Hagakure into Kuzuryuu’s room. This can be proven by the note that was found in Hagakure’s room. Once each of them were lured into the rooms of the culprits, they were somehow subdued, and then both were strangled to death. In order to add suspicion to Hagakure’s death, Kuzuryuu had cut gashes on Hagakure’s arms and throat to convince us that the cause of death was different. Hina was strangled, but her murder was supposed to mock a suicide by hanging, so there was no reason to mess with her body any further. Now that both of the victims had been killed, part two of the culprits’ plan could begin.

 

Act 2

After the nighttime announcement, but before the 1st hour of nighttime passed, Pekoyama carried Hina’s body back to her room, knowing full well that she kept her door unlocked, and started setting up the discovery scene. Meanwhile, Kuzuryuu sat in his room and waited idly, not knowing how important it would be that Hagakure’s blood spilt onto his room’s carpet. Once Pekoyama quickly finished setting up the scene, she placed a suicide note that signified that Makoto and myself were killed by her own two hands. Of course, Kuzuryuu failed to kill both myself and Makoto, so that alibi had been thrown out the window. After leaving the scene of Hina’s death, Pekoyama met up with Kuzuryuu in his room so they could start setting up the next murders.

Act 3

I’m sure Pekoyama was surprised that Hagakure was killed and went back to Hina’s room, ready to replace the note, until she noticed that by that point, Sakura was in the room and it was too late for Pekoyama to switch notes. Once back in Kuzuryuu’s room, they waited for Hagakure’s blood to dry up before taking him to Pekoyama’s room and waiting for the final part of the plan to start.

 

Act 4

Once I woke up, I was greeted to a note near my door written by Mondo, telling me to stay in my room and not go out until the announcement plays, and even then a bit after. This was probably to save myself. Someone, presumably Kuzuryuu or Pekoyama, had set my watch’s time back by 30 minutes yesterday. If I had walked out on Pekoyama waiting for the cafeteria gates to open, and she had seen me witnessing her murder, I would have likely been killed as well, with both the Ultimate Swordsman and the Ultimate Affluent Progeny on my tracks. Pekoyama waited for the gates to open, quickly waltzed into the kitchen, and hid Hagakure’s body there. Then, all she had to do was sit idly in the cafeteria for everyone else to show up.

 

That’s all that we have to pin you down, **Peko Pekoyama, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny!**

 

Kiyotaka: So, that’s what we believe happened.

Chiaki: When you put it like that, it makes a lot of sense.

Hajime: It sounds solid. I don’t see anything wrong with it.

Peko: Excluding the fact that it’s all mere assumption. You don’t have any proof to solidify your testimony.

Kiyotaka: You’re right. We don’t have solid evidence. But you and Kuzuryuu are the only two here who would currently benefit from the motive, and the two originals targets were the ones who investigated you both.

Kazuichi: Investigated? Huh?

Makoto: The day of the murder, Taka and I talked separated them and tried to talk to them in secret.

Peko: Yes, Ishimaru, but someone else could have easily done what you said I did and play it off as this. For example, Mondo knew way too much to not be suspicious. Why haven’t you suspected him yet?

Kyoko: Like Ishimaru said, it just doesn’t make sense. The motive doesn’t add up for anyone but you two. Someone would have already been killed on day one if they weren’t influenced by the additional motive.

Peko: So, you two are still adamant about me being the culprit, are you?  You can’t pin any blame on me if you don’t have proof.

Sakura: If I may, Pekoyama?

Peko: What is it?

Sakura: I found this note in Hina’s pocket during the investigation. It says to meet in your room shortly before nighttime.

Peko: What!?

Sakura: Furthermore, it has the same handwriting as Hina’s faked suicide note.

Akane: _Oh really?_ Can you explain yourself, Peko!?

Makoto: Sakura, why didn’t you mention this earlier!? You’re a lifesaver!

Sakura: I didn’t feel like bringing it up unless absolutely necessary, I apologize. I felt ashamed for searching Hina’s body, so I wanted to keep this evidence a secret from anyone who tried to destroy it.

Gundham: So, is it true? Is miss affluent progeny the damned who killed Asahina?

Fuyuhiko: T-that’s! No, no, that’s a fake note! It’s fucking fake!

Peko: …

Kyoko: Well? You’re cornered now. Do you have anything to say in your defense?

 

Peko: …

Fuyuhiko: Stop fucking badgering her! I’ll kill you, dammit!

Peko: Fuyuhiko, that’s enough. We’ve lost.

Gundham: Lost? Has the sinful mortal decided to concede their spirit to the underworld?

Fuyuhiko: NO! You-You can’t go! Don’t give up yet! I-I’M USELESS WITHOUT YOU!

Peko: There’s nothing more I can say to convince them. I’ve been surrounded by the truth. I’d rather not waste my breath in a fight I can’t win. Sorry, Fuyuhiko. I’ve failed you as a master.

Fuyuhiko: Peko… no… NO! I-I won’t give up yet!

Monokuma: Too bad!

Fuyuhiko: Wha?

Monokuma: Time’s Up! It’s Voting Time!

Fuyuhiko: N-no, not yet! Please, _not yet!_

 

**_Class Trial End_ **

**_Votes: Peko - 13 Kiyotaka - 1_ **

**_Peko Pekoyama: Guilty_ **

 

With that, the 1st class trial was over, and Pekoyama was deemed guilty.

“Well, what do you know? You’re absolutely correct! The blackened who killed Aoi Asahina is 100% Peko Pekoyama! Upupupu!”

“Pekoyama, please tell us why you decided to kill! Why would you do this?” Makoto sounded shocked and saddened as he spoke up.

“I had a business to run. Being stuck here meant my goal of removing the corruption from my Father’s business would be halted, possibly forever. I wasn’t sure when I was going to kill, but I knew I had to. And the motive solidified my resolve. I thought that I could survive, and bring Fuyuhiko out with me as well.”

“So, why did you target three people then?”

“I wanted to make my cover-up more convincible. I had decided that I would bring a random student along with me. Unfortunately, because of circumstances out of my control, the plan failed. If Fuyuhiko was successful in killing Naegi and Ishimaru, then maybe we could have both made it out alive with someone else.”

“One more question.” Kirigiri interrupted.

“Why Hagakure?”

“That note...wasn’t supposed to go to Hagakure.” Fuyuhiko spoke out. “Someone must’ve changed the nameplates on the doors or somethin’, because I tried to send the note to that fucker over there.” He pointed at me.

“Changed nameplates? B-but who would have done such a thing?!” I interjected. There was an air of silence before _he_ spoke up...

“Me. I did it, but only cuz I had my suspicions about Fuyuhiko from the start. Talking to you just made me certain.” Mondo answered. He knew _way too much_ about this setup.

“Wait, what? But my nameplate was normal right after the first few minutes of nighttime!”

“I had already loosened them. That way the switch would be a simple deal that took like 2 minutes tops.” What? But that doesn’t explain why he chose Hagakure!

“...You must have fuckin’ lucked out then, because I placed a note through Hagakure’s room not even 5 or 6 minutes after the nighttime announcement. “ Kuzuryuu spoke up again. There’s no way Mondo had just gotten lucky with that timing, this couldn’t have been coincidence. But before I could think for much longer, Pekoyama told us that she’d explain her murder plan.

“The plan was for me to ask Asahina into my room. I would knock her unconscious before strangling her, and then about ten to fifteen minutes after nighttime, I’d make sure the coast was clear before I went and dragged her to her room and set up the decoy scene. While this was happening, Fuyuhiko was supposed to coerce Ishimaru into his room before killing him the same way as well. However, because the nameplates were switched, Hagakure must have come to his room instead. If Ishimaru was killed, then phase three would start, and we would get Naegi to leave his room early due to a clock change. However, I also changed Ishimaru’s watch and clock time back as well, just in case Fuyuhiko had failed his first task. Unfortunately, Mondo got in the way, and Naegi didn’t leave his room, so the last part failed.” Pekoyama had explained her intricate murder plan. If things had somehow gone right, then this would have been a very difficult case to solve. However, that doesn’t explain why Mondo of all people stopped this murder from happening successfully.

“Mondo, were you originally a part of their plan? How did you know so much about this!?” I replied.

“I’ll tell ya later, when the time’s right. What matters now is that an extra death was avoided.” He just told me off. I need to know why he knew about all of this.

“That’s not an acceptable answer.” Kyoko responded.

“Sheesh, fine. I had been...suspicious of Kuzuryuu since the beginning, when he would listen to what Peko asked. He seemed so damn hotheaded, I was wondering why he bended towards Peko’s will. So I… snuck around and kept tabs on them. There, fuckin’ happy? Now leave me alone.” Well, guess that answers my question.

“Why Hagakure?” Makoto asked in disbelief. He had a point; Mondo had indirectly sent poor Hagakure to his death.

“...”

“Answer this question now, Oowada.” Kyoko responded, voice as cold as ever.

“It’s cause I thought he was the one behind the whole game.” Kyoko finally got the response she had been waiting for.

“The one behind it? As in a mastermind?” Sakura questioned Mondo.

“Yeah, pretty much. I figured one of us would be behind this setup, so I… ah… decided to switch plates with who _I_ thought was the mastermind.” He sounded suspicious. A mastermind behind this whole thing? While it was likely, was it really one of us? And it clearly wasn’t Hagakure. How in the world did he think it was Hagakure?

“Why in the world did you think _Hagakure_ was the mastermind?” Kyoko replied, saying what I had just thought.

“His talent just seemed… iffy to me. Ya know, bein the prince of some random country none of us have ever heard of. It sounded fake ta me.” Mondo said why he thought Hagakure was the mastermind, and while it sounded a bit off, it made enough sense for now. After getting to know Hagakure myself, I can see why he could have been suspicious, but he didn’t seem like the type of person to kill.

“If his talent was suspicious, then why not target Sonia? She doesn’t even have a talent, as far as we know.” Togami spoke up for the first time in a while. Why had he kept quiet basically this whole class trial?

“I didn’t want ta send a chick to her death. Sorry, but it’s against my beliefs. I thought there was no way a girl coulda been the mastermind, especially not someone as sweet as Sonia.”

“Thank you for answering, Oowada. I don’t want anyone else to be suspicious of others after this trial’s conclusion.” Makoto responded. However, we weren’t through with the trial procedures yet...

“Hey, hey, hey! You guys are so boring! I want to have some fun! Time for the

Punishment! The Moment _Everyone_ has Been Waiting For!” Monokuma spoke up.

“What!? NO! You-YOU CAN’T DO THIS! I WON’T LET YOU!” Kuzuryuu screamed as loud as he could, but it was already too late. Pekoyama had accepted her fate.

“Fuyuhiko, I want you to know that you were the most treasured person in my world. I’ll never forget you, so never forget me, and please survive. That’s my last command for you.” Peko looked away from Fuyuhiko with a faint smile on her face. This was the first time I had seen her smile since she had been here, and it would be the last as well.

“Now then, I’ve prepared a very special punishment for Peko Pekoyama, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny!”

“WHAT, NO! DON’T GO! THIS IS, I-”

“Let’s give it everything we’ve got! It’s Punishment Time!”

“Goodbye, Fuyuhiko. You’re on your own now, so please don’t forget about your foolish master. And survive, please make it out of here...”

“ _NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!_ ”

 

**PEKO HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY. NOW COMMENCING THE PUNISHMENT!**

As we stood, anxiously waiting for the punishment to happen, a chain shot out from behind Peko and grabbed her by the neck. She was visibly surprised by this as she was dragged backwards into a tunnel behind her. Then, suddenly, the class trial grounds morphed into what seemed to be a celebratory parade. There was a large crowd of Monokumas in front of us, and in the middle of that crowd, the center of the parade’s attention, was Peko. She was bound by her neck to a table that was tilted to where she could face the crowd. All of the Monokumas gave her a devilish staredown as a banner was unveiled quite a few feet above her. The banner said “ _The end of the Pekoyama Steel Monopoly! The Steel Revolution!_ ” All of the sudden, the monokumas started picking up stones from off of the ground, and one by one, threw them at Peko. Every stone breaking down her vulnerability, every rock leaving a bruise, and every connected hit responded to by an ache of pain. The table rotated to the left and to the right, allowing every monokuma to throw stones and rocks at her. As it looked like she was about to go unconscious from the onslaught of brutal attacks, the table suddenly flipped upright, and she was facing a giant guillotine. It was titled “The Steel Guillotine’s Opening Act!” The Guillotine dropped swiftly, and Peko was no longer with us.

\--

We all looked at the sight before us in sheer terror. Peko Pekoyama, our former classmate, died right before our eyes. We were all in shock, unable to react, with the exclusion of Fuyuhiko. He looked dead inside; his eyes were wide, he landed on his knees, put his face in his hands are started sobbing horribly. No one knew what to say to him or how to comfort him, so we all left him alone and headed back to our dorm rooms. We couldn’t call Peko Pekoyama a friend of ours, but we didn’t want to see her die, especially not like that. The only word that could have been used to describe what we all felt right now was **_Despair._ **

 

**_Chapter 1 Finished_ **

**_Survivors Remaining: 13_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I hope you enjoyed the conclusion to this trial. I got a bit sad as I was writing the end to this one, as I love the dynamic between Peko and Fuyuhiko, but I felt this pair would be best for the first chapter. To make up for Peko dying so early, I will be creating a side-story sometime in the future where Ishimaru decided to spend some actual time with her, and didn't screw up his interrogation. Just keep in mind it won't be 'canon' for this fic's storyline. Also, at the end of this fic, I'll create some more side stories with some interactions focused on the 'minor characters', so stay tuned till the end for that! Thanks for reading!
> 
> P.S. Did I do Peko justice with her execution? I tried to make it fitting, so I hope it worked well. Most of my creativity was used by creating the murder setups T_T. And I'm sorry if the post-execution was short and cut off, I wasn't quite sure what to do here. Go ahead and choose who you want for next chapter's free time events to be! I'll do it for any character, even if you really want to see a repeat with Akane, or even more time with Mondo and friends. Thanks for the read! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the list of characters with their talent swaps.  
> Kiyotaka Ishimaru - Ultimate Lucky Student  
> Mondo Oowada - Ultimate Mechanic  
> Makoto Naegi - Ultimate Detective  
> Kyoko Kirigiri - Ultimate Moral Compass  
> Byakuya Togami - Ultimate Gangster  
> Yasuhiro Hagakure - Ultimate Prince  
> Aoi Asahina - Ultimate Gamer  
> Sakura Ogami - Ultimate Gymnast  
> Hajime Hinata - Ultimate Fighter  
> Akane Owari - Ultimate Swimming Pro  
> Chiaki Nanami - Ultimate Breeder  
> Peko Pekoyama - Ultimate Affluent Progeny  
> Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu - Ultimate Swordsman  
> Sonia Nevermind - Ultimate ???  
> Gundham Tanaka - Ultimate Biker Gang Leader  
> Kazuichi Soda - Ultimate Clairvoyant
> 
> I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's reactions to each chapter! Thanks for reading!


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